


Take Me Back To The Night We Met

by mimanchiandrea



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Merluca - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23694961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimanchiandrea/pseuds/mimanchiandrea
Summary: Set in season 12 of Grey's Anatomy, Meredith struggles to get baby Ellis back to sleep. Andrew, still with Maggie at the time, helps her and the two bond for the very first time.
Relationships: Meredith Grey/Andrew DeLuca
Comments: 11
Kudos: 65





	Take Me Back To The Night We Met

Meredith stood in her kitchen looking out the window over the sink to the backyard. Andrew was out there with Ellis pushing her on a swing. Meredith smiled at the image of the man she loved and her baby girl. 

The tiniest of her little bunch is four now. A spitting image of her father, with a smile like her Aunt Lexie. She never got to meet either, which made Meredith sad when she thought about it for too long. But at least, Ellis seemed to capture the best parts of the both of them. Ellis has always been Meredith’s rainbow after the storm. Being pregnant with her was the only thing that kept Meredith sane in those painful months after Derek died. And her birth was what gave Meredith the will to move forward. Her sweet baby girl who had so much love in her heart. 

Little Ellis was shy when you first met her, but once she was comfortable with you, she became the loudest in the room. She had the most adorable little giggle and smile that could make you melt. Gorgeous blue eyes that you could get lost in. And nothing made her happier than ice cream and dancing to hip hop music. Ellis brought sunshine into everyone’s lives that met her. Her little charm was able to capture the heart of all those around her, Andrew being no different. 

The two had bonded in an instant since Meredith introduced Andrew to her kids as her boyfriend. Ellis would wait at the window by the couch everyday waiting for her “Drew” to come home. At first, Ellis couldn’t say Andrew and Drew just stuck for her. Anytime he wasn’t around, Ellis would question when he would return home. She wanted him to cook her breakfast and read her a story before bed. She wanted him if she had a nightmare and it was him she chose to snuggle with when they watched a family movie. 

The sight of them playing in the backyard while Meredith stood in the kitchen, reminded her of a memory that she long forgot about. It didn’t seem significant when it happened. At that time, Meredith never imagined being with anyone again, let alone her sister’s boyfriend. But now, Meredith wonders how she could have forgot it. If she examined closely enough, she could see they had a special connection all those years ago and never noticed. That was the beautiful thing about Meredith and Andrew, there was just an ease between them and a level of comfort that they could tell each other anything, even though they barely knew each other in the beginning. The memory reminded her a lot of when they were trapped in the elevator. 

It was a stormy night, classic Seattle, and Ellis would not stay asleep. She was only five months old at the time. Meredith felt so stressed and alone. It took everything in her power to not break down as her baby continued to scream into the night. Meredith brought her baby down to the kitchen to be farther from her other kids and her sisters. It was nights like these that reminded her Derek was gone forever. That she was in this alone. 

With Zola and Bailey, they got through the tough nights together. They took turns so the other could sleep. And Derek had such a knack for calming the kids. Zola was always a daddy’s girl and Bailey would stop crying just at the sound of his voice. Derek always had that magic spark about him. He was just so dreamy, it was hypnotizing. 

As Meredith walked around the kitchen, bouncing baby Ellis to stop crying, she tried to control herself from crying herself. Nothing was calming her down. Meredith tried to breastfeed, snuggle, bounce, just anything she could think of. Nothing worked. Suddenly a figure appeared in the kitchen. She recognized him as Dr. DeLuca, a new intern and Maggie’s boyfriend? The label was unclear and hardly anyone knew about them except for Meredith and Amelia. 

“Sorry, did we wake you?” apologized Meredith. 

“Oh, no. I came to get a glass of water and heard the baby crying. Is she okay?” asked Andrew. 

“Yeah, she’s just refusing sleep tonight,” answered Meredith. 

Andrew’s heart ached for Dr. Grey then. He didn’t really know her at all. He had worked with her before and he was terrified of her. She was without a doubt the toughest on the residents. He honestly prayed to not be put on her service he was that scared of her, everyone was. That’s all the interns talked about in the morning, “please do not put me on Medusa’s service” and then when shifts were over, the interns would talk about how horrible she was and how much they hated her. 

But now, in this moment, Andrew regretted those feelings towards her. He knew her husband had just died. Looking at her now and judging her the way he did before made him feel bad. She looked stressed. Her voice was shakey. She looked like she was seconds away from bursting into tears. It must be so hard, Andrew thought, to have to raise three kids all by yourself. He immediately thought of his own mother, who raised him for nearly a decade by herself. If she were still alive, he would call her right now and thank her. Because from where he was standing, doing it alone seemed so heartbreakingly lonely. 

“Maybe I can help,” suggested Andrew. 

“No offense DeLuca but I don’t know you at all, so I’m not about to put my five months old daughter in your hands,” rejected Meredith. 

“I’m really good with kids, you can trust me. I used to work as an EMT and they would always have me take care of the kids. Especially the babies that came from drug homes, they would scream nonstop from withdrawal after being surrounded by the chemicals and I was the only one who could calm them down,” explained Andrew.

“Did you just suggest I make drugs?” questioned Meredith. 

“What? No, of course not Dr. Grey, I would never. I’m so sorry, I-,” rambled an embarrassed Andrew. 

“Well nothing I’m doing is calming her down. You can try,” agreed Meredith, cutting him off. 

Meredith placed a crying baby Ellis into Andrew’s arms. Andrew cradled her into his arms and rocked her. He sang an Italian lullaby his mother sang for him and he used to sing when he was an EMT. And just like magic, Ellis calmed down. Andrew continued until she fell asleep, then he placed her back into her mother’s arms. 

“Wow, that’s amazing. She never calms down that quickly for me or anyone. Thank you,” said Meredith. 

“It’s no problem, I’m glad I could help,” responded Andrew. 

Now they both sat on chairs next to each other along the island of Meredith’s kitchen. Both overlooking the baby, watching her sleep so peacefully. 

“What’s her name?” asked Andrew. 

Andrew wasn’t sure why, but he just wasn’t ready to go back to sleep just yet. He wanted to be here with them and make sure they were okay. 

“Ellis,” answered Meredith.

“That’s a beautiful name,” replied Andrew.

“Thank you. It was my mother’s name,” explains Meredith. 

“I think I’d like to name my child after my mother too. She was the greatest mom in the entire world. I would do anything to see her again,” said Andrew. 

“I’m sorry. How long ago did she pass?” asked Meredith. 

“Three years. But it still feels like yesterday sometimes,” answered Andrew. 

“I can understand that. Grief is a crazy thing,” agreed Meredith. 

The pair sat there for another hour, just talking. They talked about work and baby Ellis and just about anything. Meredith even smiled and laughed. Really smiled and laughed for the first time in nearly a year. It felt good to feel that at ease again with someone else. She never thought she would have it in the middle of the night with her intern who was sleeping with her sister, but she was glad to have it. Anything that was not a constant reminder that Derek was dead and how painful that is, she was welcome to feeling.

Eventually they both decided to return to bed. And before they each entered different bedrooms, as if they were reading each other’s minds, they each turned around to look at each other one more time. 

“Goodnight Dr. Grey,” said Andrew. 

“Goodnight Dr. DeLuca,” returned Meredith. 

And the night ended. They never talked like that again for another four years. In fact, the only thing that changed immediately between them was Andrew vowed to never refer to Meredith Grey as Medusa ever again. Someone in that much pain had a right to be angry and did not deserve cruelty in return. He hoped she would be happy again and little did he know, he was part of the future that would make her very, very happy till the day she died.


End file.
